Forum Index
»
Off-Topic
Do you rent your house?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Our house has been on the market a few months and has not sold. We have an offer from a family to rent our house for 12-months at a price that would cover our monthly costs. We really were not planning to go down this road, but are now seriously considering it. I wanted to get some feedback from others who rent ther house. Do you do the maintenance, i.e. who pays the lawn guy? Do you use a property manager? Did you ever list your house for sale while you had renters? Just looking for some first hand experience. Thank you! |
Anonymous
|
I'm not the home owner but a renter in a similar situation. The people who own my house couldn't get what they believed to be a fair price for their home, so they rented it instead. The lease specifies that when any maintenance or repairs are to be done, I'm responsible for the first $50 in cost. As a former home owner myself, I'd probably specify more in the lease contract. (I'm renting until I figure out where I actually want to live). For example, I just pay for and get things done like gutter cleaning and chimney cleaning, and don't even both the landlord with it. The house needs it but he doesn't seem to care. I replaced a heating element in the oven on my own at a cost of $67. Since it was barely over the "deductible" I'd have to pay, I just paid it all myself. The ice and snow storms last winter caused part of a tree to fall against the house and broke off the back porch light. I am the one who dealt with the homeowners association to get the tree removed, and I fixed the light myself.
I keep the landlord apprised of things like this, but don't nickel and dime him. Since I did own a home before and I'm pretty handy, I just fix what I can and leave it at that. But the A/C broke recently and I have no expertise in that area. I had to have it serviced and that cost about $250. I paid the first $50 of that as the lease requires. So my only advice on this end is to try to pick a tenant with whom you can have good communication and partnership. If your house sits under many tall trees, discuss things like gutter cleaning and other maintenance issues. My landlord had never used their fireplace before, so the fact that chimneys should be inspected never crossed his mind. But I'm a heavy fireplace user in the winter, so I knew to get it inspected and cleaned. Try to imagine scenarios like that. He doesn't use a property manager, but I can see the benefits to it, especially if you live out of state. |
Anonymous
|
Wow, I have never heard of making tenants pay a repair deductible. That sounds a little crazy to me (i guess, in a good way if you are the homeowner). If I wanted to pay for repairs and maintenance, I wouldn't rent. We rent a house in arlington and are responsible for mowing but the landlord pays for everything else. It would never even occur to me to deal with gutters or chimney cleaning or fix a broken stove.
PP sounds like every landlord's dream tenant, though. |
Anonymous
|
We rented our house few years ago and we lived out of state. We used the property manager (fee: 10% of the rent). The property manager took care of the background check and the application approval. They collected the rent checks and deposited the rest into our account. If there was an issue with the house (jacuzzi broke) they found the maintenance man and called us to get an approval before they continue with the repair.
If you are close by or have friends that can help you out, I suggest renting it out yourself. As for maintenance of the yard - I suggest you pay for it, especially if you are planning on selling it and/or have a nice yard. Who never know who you are going to get. We rented out our house to two tenants and both took care of little things (we were never called about a lightbulb or loose board in the deck) so we were lucky. After we got a letter stating the last tenant will be moving out, we put the house back on the market and it sold. I guess you can list it while you are renting, but you have to be clear with the tenants they might have to move out. And honestly, I would not want to move with my family into the house knowing that I'll have to move out any moment. |
Anonymous
I have to agree and I would never sign a rental agreement where I had to be responsible for repairs. I think the PP actually got a raw deal and maybe didn't know any better. I have signed plenty of rental agreements (and been a homeowner) and it was never requested that I be responsbile for repairs. |
Anonymous
I have heard of this before. I know a family that lives in New Hampshire and rents their Arlington house out. Its a large house and they purposefully seek out families rather than 4 single guys sharing the place. They'd get higher rent with the single guys, but would rather have a family take care of the place. Since they offer a very competitive (if not even below market) rent, and they live so far away, they have the tenant cover minor repairs. They have had at least 3 different families as renters and have never had a problem with the repairs clause. It probably helps that they are retired state dept. and find their tenants through the state dept. |
Anonymous
| I have renters and I ask that if anything costs less than $75 they fix it. Because I don't want to be responsible for light bulbs or minor things. But, I don't use that as a "deductable" And, I am more than happy to fix the big things even if it is a general request. For example, my tenants asked if I could update the bathroom and replace the windows and I did. I replaced the AC/HVAC and water heater before it really needed it. etc. I have great tenants and I haven't raised the rent in 4 years. |
Anonymous
Just so everyone who's considering this knows, this is a Fair Housing Act violation. OP, most property management companies charge one month's rent to get you a tenant plus about 10% of each month's rent to take care of everything. Most leases for single-family homes in this area require the tenants to do lawnmowing and gutter cleaning (once a year or more as needed) so that could be on them. Or if you have someone who already does the lawn, just include it and make the rent a little higher so the tenants wouldn't have to deal with it. If you're considering selling it toward the end of the lease, include a clause in the lease requiring the tenants to agree to have a lockbox put on the property and cooperate with agents who are showing it. |
Anonymous
| DH rented a condo once where the first 50 bucks of every repair was his responsibility, and he could/had to call the repair people directly. It was weird and he hated it, but he wanted the apartment so he agreed. He ended up liking it, because he didn't have to wait until the landlord approved fixes before they were made. |
Anonymous
|
We have been the landlord and the renters at different times. I would thoroughly recommend getting an agent if you go down the renting route and expect to pay for repairs yourself. If your garden is important to you, pay for a regular gardener as well. There is no way you can judge a prospective tenant and their rights should also be protected through an agent.
As for whether to go this route, if you can't sell your house now for the lowest price you're willing to accept, then it's a good idea to take it off and try again later. |
Anonymous
I think it is a lot to ask friends to help you with your rental property. |
Anonymous
|
When we were renters in D.C. the landlord was so cheap she did not pay for a thing. I think she even tried to make the renters pay for the deductible on the H.O. policy if there was a claim. If I recall correctly, she ended up with a lot of damage, and eventually sold the house.
Whatever you do, get deposits. I would also say no pets. As a landlord I can tell you that some people are absolute slobs to the extent that carpet, paint and window blinds (yup), and more can easily be destroyed if it is the wrong set of renters (even if they seem fine on paper).... SLOBS. |
Anonymous
If you have friends that are handy with small repairs, why not? But then again, we're talking DC so that might not be feasible with full time work plus commute, etc.
As a pet owner, I am dissapointed each time I see no pets on a rental ad. I am willing to pay the extra non-refundable deposit for my trained dog, who sleeps most of the time throughout the day. We had rented our house to pet owners and had no complaints. We rented our house to no dog owners and had damage to counters, doors, etc. You take a risk with renting your house, but that's why you have deposits. |
Anonymous
Actually, if you were a RE agent renting properties, I believe this counts as a violation. As an individual renting one unit, and one unit only, I believe you are exempt. I could be wrong, but think i learned this in my RE licensing class (which I never fully completed, so my advice here is worth about what you paid to read it  )
|
Anonymous
|
We now own the property that we rented for 4 years. The landlord paid for repairs, lawn care, security system and gutters. If we ever rent this one out, we would do the same to make sure house was well maintained.
|